Move well - Move often!

In order to move often, or in other words to enjoy physical activity in the long term, we need to be able to move well. Most likely everybody can agree to that. Now, what does “moving well” actually means? Does it mean we move well, if we don´t feel any pain during our activity? We don´t think so.

Even though pain most certainly is an indicator that something is wrong and needs to be checked, we should take a closer look at certain natural movements even though they might not cause any pain – or not cause any pain yet…

All joints in our body have a certain function and a certain range of motion. As a result, each joint has specific training needs. Some of those joints are characterised by the need of stability, while others rather need increased mobility. The table below looks at the body on a joint-by-joint basis from the bottom up:

• Ankle - Mobility

• Knee - Stability

• Hip - Mobility

• Lumbar Spine - Stability

• T-Spine - Mobility

• Gleno-humeral - Stability

• Cervical Spine – Mobility

If you take a closer look you will notice that joints simply alternate between the need for mobility and stability as we move up the chain. A lot of sport injuries relate closely to proper joint function or more appropriately to joint dysfunction.

In simplest terms, problems at one joint usually show themselves as pain or a problem in the joint above or below. Let´s look at pain in the lower back. A problem lots of us know only too well. Lower back pain is often not caused by problems in the lower back but in the joint below – the hip.

The hip is built for mobility, and the lumbar spine is built for stability. When the supposedly mobile joint (in this case the hip) becomes immobile, the stable joint ( the lumbar spine or lower back) is forced to move as compensation, becoming less stable and subsequently painful.